The rest step

The rest step is a mountaineering technique to keep moving in the mountains when you are tired. It is particularly effective in resting your muscles and putting the stress over your skeletal system. Here is how to perform the rest step:

1. Inhale while taking a step forward.
2. Exhale while extending your back leg into a locked knee position.
3. Repeat.

The rest step will help you find rhythm. It is not the fastest way to the top of the mountain but it will likely be your best chance getting to the the summit.  

No more talking. Just climb the mountain one step at a time. This is your moment. When you are tired and don't feel like you can move, take a rest step, and then another, and another. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. Find your rhythm. 

No one said it was going to be easy but it will be worth it.

1 star reviews

No one ever got better by just reading the one star reviews. The troll who gave the review is just seeking attention. They didn't earn it. So don't give them any. 

Not every product or service is meant for everybody.

They didn't get the joke so there is no use in explaining it to them.

Financially rigged games

A rigged game is something that is fixed in a dishonest way to guarantee a desired outcome. 

Here are some examples of rigged games:

• Credit Cards - The national average is 15% interest.
• Buying a new car - The average car payment is $485 over 86 months. Cars lose an average of 40% of its value in the first 4 years.
• Leasing a car - A term that many won't know about is residual value (how much it will be worth when the lease ends). For example, the lender may figure that a car selling for $30,000 today will be worth $15,000 4 years from now, and will calculate monthly payments to cover that loss in value.
• 30 year mortgages - You can save over $85,000 in interest alone just by switching to a 15 year fixed rate (example used: 3% interest on a 200K house).
• Personal Mortgage Insurance (PMI) - There simply is no need for it if you can be patient and put 20% down on your house.
• Out of State Tuition - Average price is about $16,000 per semester for an out-of-state public university. That is about $9,000 more per semester for in-state universities.
• FICO scores - You could have an income of over a million dollars this year with no debt and have a FICO score of 0. This is not a true measurement of wealth.
• Waiting on Social Security - Those who are starting out in the work force simply put away $100 a month in growth stock mutual funds with a long track record with returns in the 12% range will retire as millionaires. It is that simple. If you can't put $100 away right now, can you do $80? $60? Just start putting something away.

Resist the foolish choice. Be patient. Challenge the status quo. Ask the question do I really need to play this game? Is there a different game I can play? Do not accept or comply with the idea that you need to have something. We are all smart and very capable people.

Where are you going?

I want you to ask yourself one simple question: Where are you going?

Not how did you get here. Not where are you at. Where are you going?

Now ask yourself another question: Is this where you want to go?

If what you are doing is not helping you get where you want to go then it is time to stop hiding.

You may feel locked in, you may feel scared, you may have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, you may feel that you don't have the resources, time, education, money, background to try anything different, you may feel too old, too young, not athletic enough or you could be feeling all of the above. And you may be right. These are all things we are afraid of but it doesn't give us a pass. These are all things we tell ourselves but it’s not actually how it is. It is a form of hiding.

This is not about opportunities but about obligations. We live in the richest, safest county in human history with technology and information to give us the platform and voice to go do work that matters.

Start wrestling with what you are doing and how you are going to get there before we start telling ourselves it’s too late. It's not too late. We need you.

You don't have to have all the answers you just need to have curiosity and ambition.

Go. Make the future you want it to be.

The little kid

We have all gone shopping and seen the little kid in the cereal aisle crying and begging his mom for his favorite cereal.  

Inside each and every one of us you will find that little kid. The little kid is the enemy in each of us.

This little kid is a former version of ourselves, he screams that we are hungry, angry, lonely and tired.

He tells us that we need to have that new thing because the old thing isn’t as good. If we just had the new thing we would never ask for another thing ever again. We would be so happy if we just had the new thing.

We need to teach this little kid to behave and to be generous.

Delaying gratification is the only way to make the little kid behave. Teaching ourselves to delay gratification is the number one way to unlocking wealth.

Give yourself permission to be an artist

Give yourself permission to be an artist. Give yourself permission to be whatever it is that you want to be. No one is waiting to anoint you as a professional writer, musician, poet, designer or blogger.

Giving yourself permission will you give you confidence. It will give you a chance to be an artist, someone who changes how we think, what we feel and how we do. You don't need credentials to be an artist. You don't need to sell a platinum album to be a musician. Just start being one and start creating art to change the hearts and minds of people.

Reader’s first reaction: I am not an artist. I can’t paint a picture.

You are an artist when you spend emotional labor to deliver a project in a generous way.

Blogger: I made this blog for you. Here. Read this. I hope it helps you find what you are looking for.

Be generous with your gift. No need to sell it for money (it’s too valuable). When we sell our gift for money, it is no longer a gift but a commodity and when it turns into a commodity it is no longer art.

Be an artist. Paint the picture of the future you want then go there. 

The ruckus revolution

Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

Create a ruckus. Be bold. Be unpredictable and unusual.

Put aside the mundane work. Start something new and exciting. Start something that comes out of left field. Start something that shakes up the establishment. Start something that doesn't follow the recipe, the checklist, the order of operations. Start that book you always wanted to write or post that blog that you were always too scared to share. Surprise your spouse by making that dish you always wanted to try. Grab that camera and start taking pictures. Start creating art.

Start today. Right now. Start small and finish it today. Go. Then tomorrow start a ruckus again.